Moses Wilkinson
Moses "Daddy" Wilkinson or "Old Moses" (c. 1746/47[1][2] – ?) was an African-American slave and Wesleyan Methodist preacher in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone.
Moses Wilkinson was a blind and lame slave from Nansemond County, Virginia; his master was Mills Wilkinson.[3] After Dunmore's Proclamation promised slaves of American rebels their freedom if they would join the British forces fighting in the American Revolutionary War, Wilkinson led a band of runaway slaves to freedom in 1776.[2][3] In New York, the self-appointed, illiterate, fiery Wesleyan Methodist preacher gathered together a congregation.[4]
When the British were defeated in 1783, Wilkinson and other Black Loyalists were transported aboard L'Abondance to Halifax;[4] he is listed in the Book of Negroes.[1] A Black Loyalist settlement was established in Birchtown, Nova Scotia.[4] On 26 October 1791, 350 people gathered in Wilkinson's church to hear John Clarkson explain the Sierra Leone Company's plans to reestablish a colony in what is now Sierra Leone,[2] the previous 1787 attempt having failed miserably. Displeased with a climate colder than they were used to and a hostile reception from the resident whites, Wilkinson, members of his Methodist congregation, and those of other denominations emigrated; 1196 Nova Scotian Settlers set sail from Halifax on 15 January 1792.[2]
The ships made landfall on 9 March. Wilkinson established the first Methodist church in Settler Town.[5] The Sierra Leone Company clashed with the independent-minded Christian denominations, and matters came to a head with a failed rebellion led by Methodists in 1800.[4] Two Methodists were executed, a number of others, mostly Methodist, were exiled elsewhere in Africa, and Wilkinson's brand of Methodism lost favour.[4]
References
- Cassandra Pybus, Epic Journeys of Freedom: Runaway Slaves of the American Revolution and Their Global Quest for Liberty. Beacon Press, 2007. (Accessed February 2014)
- Vincent Carretta (ed.), Unchained Voices: An Anthology of Black Authors in the English-Speaking World of the 18th Century, University Press of Kentucky, 1996, 2004. (Accessed February 2014)
- James W. St. G. Walker, The Black Loyalists: The Search for a Promised Land in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone 1783-1870, 1992. (Accessed February 2014)
- Simon Schama, Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution, HarperCollins, 2006. (Accessed February 2014)
- Lamin Sanneh, Abolitionists Abroad: American Blacks and the Making of Modern West Africa, Harvard University Press, 2001. (Accessed February 2014)
- The Wesleyans. (Accessed February 2014)
- Susan Ware, Forgotten Heroes: Inspiring American Portraits From Our Leading Historians, The Free Press, 1998. (Accessed February 2014)
- Robin W. Winks, The Blacks in Canada: A History. (Accessed February 2014)
- 1 2 "African Nova Scotians in the Age of Slavery and Abolition". novascotia.ca (official website of Nova Scotia). Wilkinson's entry in the Book of Negroes gives his age as 36.
- 1 2 3 4 Gary B. Nash. "Thomas Peters: Millwright and Deliverer".
- 1 2 Clifford, Mary Louise (January 2006). From Slavery to Freetown: Black Loyalists After the American Revolution. McFarland. pp. 15–18. ISBN 9780786425570.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "The Radical Methodist Congregation of Daddy Moses". blackloyalist.info.
- ↑ Glenn Whipp (May 6, 2015). "Emmy Contenders: Join Louis Gossett Jr. of 'Book of Negroes' on Thursday". Los Angeles Times.